Anders Breivik trial interrupted by spectator throwing shoe

The trial of Anders Behring Breivik was interrupted briefly today by a spectator who hurled a shoe at the confessed mass killer and yelled "go to hell" before being escorted from the court room, witnesses said.

It was the first outburst from the normally subdued crowd watching the terror trial in Oslo's district court since the proceedings began in mid-April.

Journalists watching the proceedings in the court room and through a live broadcast at the court's press center said the man got up and took of his shoe and threw it at Breivik, but missed. The shoe hit the chair of one of his defense lawyers, Norwegian broadcaster NRK said.

The man yelled "go to hell" and "you killer" before he was escorted out of the court room by security guards, a Swedish journalist watching the trial in the press center told The Associated Press.

"Some spectators were uncomfortable. Some started crying. Many clapped their hands," Lindahl said.

It wasn't immediately clear who the man was.

The incident was a sharp break with the polite atmosphere that has reigned inside the court room, even as Breivik explained his killing of 77 people in a bomb-and-shooting rampage on July 22.

The far-right fanatic has admitted to the attacks but pleaded innocent to terror charges, saying the victims were traitors for embracing multiculturalism.

AP